Table 1.
Demographic characteristics, number of drugs, number of clinical/pharmacological risk factors and number of drug-related problems in hospitalised patients. NTI-users: patients using drugs with a narrow therapeutic index (NTI), Non-NTI-users: patients not using drugs with a narrow therapeutic index
| NTI-users N = 292 | Non-NTI-users N = 535 | P values | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) [range] | Mean (SD) [range] | ||
| Age | 75.2 (12.7) | 68.4 (18.7) | p<0.01 |
| No. drugs on admission | 5.6 (3.2) [0-15] | 4.0 (3.0) [0-16] | p<0.01 |
| No. drugs started in hospital | 5.1 (3.3) [0-16] | 3.4 (2.6) [0-13] | p<0.01 |
| Total no. of drugs | 10.7 (4.3) [0-16] | 7.3 (3.9) [0-16] | p<0.01 |
| No. DRPsa per patient | 2.7 (2.5) [0-16] | 1.5 (1.7) [0-11] | p<0.01 |
| No. selectedb DRPs per patient | 1.6 (1.8) [0-10] | 0.6 (1.0) [0-7] | p<0.01 |
| % (No.) | % (No.) | ||
| Gender females | 53 % (156) | 61 % (329) | p=0.02 |
| Clinical risk factors | |||
| Diabetes | 14 % (41) | 10 % (52) | p=0.06 |
| Heart failure | 32 % (92) | 11 % (57) | p<0.01 |
| Renal impairment, GFR<30 ml/min | 7 % (19) | 4 % (22) | p=0.13 |
a
DRP categories: need for additional drug, unnecessary drug, non-optimal drug, non-optimal dose, drug interaction, need for monitoring, no further need for drug, adverse drug reaction
b
Selected DRPs: not optimal dose, drug interaction, need for monitoring